A Face on the Moon
by warwick-witch
Summary: In fairytale world, Rumpelstiltskin brings his new servant to his castle and he makes sure that she begins to question the notion of sanity. In Storybrooke, Belle sees a face on the Moon but it is not clear if she can still remember to whom it belongs.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Everything you recognize (including part of the dialogue) belongs to _Once Upon a Time. _I'm only doing this for fun.

* * *

A Face on the Moon

_It's all your fault, you called me beautiful_

_You turned me out and now I can't turn back_

_I hold my breath because you were perfect_

_But I'm running out of air and it's not fair_

- P!nk, "It's All Your Fault"

**Chapter One**

**I  
****  
Into the Middle of Things**

Belle was aware of Gaston's angry glares and tightly clenched fists, and the king's anxious looks and trembling hands, as Rumpelstiltskin put his arm around her and walked her out of the great hall effectively closing the doors behind them with a careless waive of his free hand. Belle flinched and looked behind her but she did not stop walking.

"Changed your mind already, dearie?" He sounded genuinely preoccupied but that there was no sign of care or compassion in his eyes when she turned her head to look at him. His expression was rigid and his face looked like made of wax, with the light coming from the torches on the wall reflecting off its glossy surface.

"I gave my word."

"Of course, how could I forget? What bravery, what sacrifice," he hissed and she could have sworn she got a glimpse of a forked tongue between his teeth.

The corridor was completely empty even though normally there would be guards, at least by some of the doors to the many chambers they were passing on their way out from the castle. Belle was looking ahead in an attempt not to show her fear to the monster.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" he whispered in her ear as he tightened his grip on her forearm. "It's not very polite to think such nasty things about someone right next to you. And quite cowardly, too."

Belle froze and stared at him, shocked. She lowered her head and concentrated on the tips of her shoes while trying to calm down her breathing and wishing her heart wasn't beating so terribly loud.

Rumpelstiltskin lifted her chin up, gently holding it between his thumb and index finger. The tips of his fingers were rough from working the spinning wheel.

"Now, now, dearie, I'll go easy on you this time," he assured her in a warm, almost motherly manner while his eyes remained cold and dark. "I wouldn't want to make a bad first impression on you." He smiled, showing two rows of small sharp yellow teeth.

When they walked out of the castle into the night, Belle noticed a carriage waiting for them, oddly without a coachman, a single footman or horses. Rumpelstiltskin let go of her and walked to the carriage. He opened the door, preformed an exaggerated bow and gestured towards Belle. When she came closer, he helped her up the steps and closed the door.

"See you," he giggled and disappeared moments before Belle shrieked as the carriage rapidly started moving on its own, as if drawn by a few galloping horses. Soon Belle could feel her tension lessen, as the familiar rhythm of the wheels rolling on the forest road began to calm her down, when, in some bizarre manner she no longer thought it disturbing that she could not hear the sound of hooves hitting the ground, nor the crack of the coachman's whip.

When the carriage stumbled upon a peculiarly rocky track and the bumps became so frequent that everything was trembling, Belle finally let go and began to sob, breathing erratically. She rested her head against the wall and stared at a point in the air above the seat in front of her. Her vision became blurred from the tears that she couldn't help despite her best efforts not to cry. This was probably one of the very few moments when she would be away from her master's mind reading and gods know what other sinister tricks that he would surely use tease and humiliate her. She let her emotions take over completely and she covered her face with her hands, and curled in a ball on the seat.

After some time the emotions wore the girl out completely and she fell asleep, unaware of the pair of eyes watching her from the small ornamented mirror embedded in the carriage's wall.

Belle woke up at the crack of dawn, confused and tangled in the fabric of her dress. Slowly, the events of the previous night came back to her and she was overtaken by a wave of anxiety. She lay still for a while took slow, deep breaths while the carriage rode on, on what seemed to be a better road, most likely somewhere near human dwellings. She sat up and looked out the window, and in the distance she saw a castle towering gloomily over a small village. As the carriage was going up the castle hill, she tried to fix her hair and dress a little and hoped that her face did not bear any signs of her crying from the previous night. She looked at her reflection in the small mirror: she looked tired and pale but other than that everything was more or less in order.

Rumpelstiltskin was waiting for her when the carriage arrived at the courtyard. He opened the door and helped her down the steps, gently holding her by the hand. Once again, he performed a deep bow.

"I bid you welcome, my lady," he announced solemnly and led her to his estate.

Upon entering the great hall, she found the room dark and unwelcoming, colder than the outside world, not yet warmed up by the shy rays of an early spring morning. Her shoes were damp from the dew and her feet got cold in contact with the draft inside. All of the windows were obscured by heavy drapes and the fireplace presented a miserable pile of ashes. The middle of the room was taken up by a long table with only one chair next to it, and there were many strange and curiously looking objects standing against the walls. In particular, there was a suit of armor that looked as if there was somebody inside it, as well as cabinet with glass doors, displaying a collection of items that people usually kept in the attic or basement – dusty vases, broken dolls, odd silver wear and books with missing covers.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked. Her anxiety was slowly being replaced with curiosity about the castle and its owner.

"Let's call it… your room!" he said with a smile that, as she was to learn very soon, was an indication that, out of the two of them, he was the only one about to have fun.

He lead her down the corridor and down a what seemed to be an endless staircase. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Rumpelstiltskin used magic to open one door after another. When her eyes got accustomed to the darkness and she was able to make out where he had brought her.

"My 'room'…!"

"It sounds better than 'dungeon!'" He exclaimed pushing her into the cell before she had another chance to protest.

When she turned around, the door shut in her face. She called out and banged her fists on the door but all she could hear was a fading sound of that ear-piercing laughter of his and the echo of footsteps on the stone floor.

"You can't leave me here!" she screamed. "Please!"

Her last outburst rang in her ears, followed by the echo that seemed to be travelling through the walls to, through some sort of wicked magic, reach the ears of her captor.

Belle clasped her hand over her mouth and sat on the bed, with involuntary tears running down her cheeks. She was going to spend the rest of her life in a dungeon guarded by crazy man so powerful that he could probably kill an army with the snap of his fingers.

After what seemed like eternity, the door opened, making her jump. She had been sitting on the bed this whole time, lost in her thoughts and so many "what if's" that they had all mixed between each other and she couldn't tell whether she could have been killed by the orcs before or after her marriage to Gaston, or whether the creatures would have killed their baby first and made them watch and plead for mercy.

"I see you've made yourself at home. Come, it's time for tea and it's not going to make itself," he said, summoning her with a gesture blown out of proportion.

"You'll find everything you need somewhere in the cupboards. Make sure to was everything thoroughly before you use it, I don't like spiders in my tea," he instructed once they entered the kitchen. "I'm not used to waiting, dearie," he added and walked out of the room, leaving her surrounded by heaps of dirty dishes on the counters and mice munching on pieces of stale bread and spoiled vegetables scattered on the floor.

Belle thought that her experience could be compared to The Fifth Labor of Hercules, where the hero had to clean the stable of Augeas. Only, she was not a hero and, as far as she knew, changing the course of a river and making it run through the building had not been considered an important ability by any of her governesses.

After going through a few cabinets, she was able to ensemble a whole tea service for two, complete with matching cups, saucers, a small milk jug and even a sugar bowl. She boiled some water, brewed the tea, and set everything on a tray. When she first picked it up and she almost dropped it on the floor because she had not expected it to be that heavy.

When Belle came into the great hall with the tray, hoping that the clatter of the porcelain would be taken as a sign of her clumsiness rather than of how much her hands were shaking, Rumpelstiltskin was sitting at the table. She could feel his gaze fixed upon her but she tried not to look at him herself; instead she dedicated all of her attention to the dishes she was putting on the table. She had never paid much attention to the way her maids behaved but she remembered that they almost never looked at her directly, not even when she addressed them.

"You will serve me my meals, and you will clean the Dark Castle."

Rumpelstiltskin's tone was calm and gentle, as usual, and he made his request sound almost polite.

"I-I understand," Belle said, nodding her head as she poured the tea into the cup. She responded to all the other requests he made in the same cautious way, not daring to look at him. '_Yes, my lady'_, _'No, my lady_', _'As you wish, my lady_'… she remembered thinking once that the servants' voices were not very different from the ticking of a clock – somehow the sound disappeared completely in the midst of everything else that was going on around her and sometimes she would forget they were even there. She was quite sure that her new master, too, expected to see and hear as little of her as possible.

Belle was tired from travelling all night and her back and neck ached from sleeping on the narrow carriage seat. She had to try really hard to understand what Rumpelstiltskin was telling her, while all she could think about was how much she wanted to go to sleep and, ideally, wake up in her own bed.

"…dust my collection … launder … clothing… fetch me fresh straw…"

She acknowledged each of her chores with a nod, making an observation that while her life was going to be rather monotonous but also that neither of the things that she was expected to do seemed to be too much for her. The castle was probably very big and, judging by the look of the kitchen, it would take a long time before to clean it but, other than that, the tasks he had given her were perfectly manageable.

"Oh! And you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts."

Belle gasped and dropped the cup she was holding onto the floor. She wanted to run, but she couldn't move a muscle. She was paralyzed by fear, or by the wicked man's magic, or possibly both.

"That one was a quip – not serious," he said as if it had been something obvious.

"Right," she mumbled when she finally managed to find her voice again, quite sure that sooner or later she would go mad in this place. She already found it impossible to tell earnest from game. Maybe it was all a joke with this man, or maybe he really wanted her to skin children? Maybe he didn't but he wanted her to think that he did?"

Belle suddenly remembered the cup that she had dropped on the floor so she knelt down to pick it up, only to discover that it was damaged from when it had hit the floor.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, but… It's… It's chipped. Y-You can hardly see it…"

There was a long silence between them and when she dared to look up, Rumpelstiltskin was studying her with a smile on his lips and a weird look in his eyes. He almost looked amused.

"Well, it's just a cup." He shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows as Belle let out a sigh of relief. "My tea, dearie. I'm still waiting," he reminded her with a note of impatience in his voice.

Belle rushed over to him with the tray, almost tripping over her dress. It was too long to walk unless she lifted the hem slightly.

"As I recall, our deal does not include instances that would require such fancy dresses. I believe you will find the clothes I've prepared for you much more suitable. What are you waiting for? Go to your room and change, you have quite a lot to do today, don't you?"

"Yes… thank you."

"You're most welcome, dearie. Now, shoo!" he exclaimed, dismissing her with a wave of his hand, as if he were waving off a fly.

**II**

**A Face on the Moon**

Belle has gone mad because of the pain and even Regina is mesmerized and bewildered by the effect the suffering has had on her mind and soul. Sometimes she sits on the floor motionless and stares at the wall almost without blinking. Other times, she needs to be held down by the nurses and given a sedative because she screams, bangs her small fists on the door and tears out her hair. She likes to sit by the small window and watch the full moon with her eyes half-closed. During one of her rare moments of lucidity she is said to have asked the nurses if she, too, could see a face on the Moon.

"I think he's sad tonight. You could almost see a smile on his face last night but today he's sad. He's frowning. Do you see that?"

When the moon disappears after a few nights, Belle gets upset and does not want to eat so they have to force her. The first time that happened, she stayed awake most of the time and every time she would manage to fall asleep for a moment, she woke up with a scream.

"Please!"

Regina does not know what the girl is asking or begging for. She has her guesses, some of them more plausible than others, but she has to live with her questions unanswered for now. The word struck a threatening note in her mind but she was quite certain that there is no reason to suspect that there is a connection between the poor thing and the tiresome deal she made with that pitiful man to get what she wanted. If she had had his powers, she would have found a much better use for them, of course. There is no magic in this world, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean that neither of them has any powers left. Blackmail is nowhere near as complex as black magic but it has to do for now.

Regina wishes she could say that she is responsible for the poor thing's ear-piercing shrieks and hollow eyes but the truth is Belle was already damaged when her knights found her wandering on the castle grounds at night. All she had to do was make sure Belle's would not get the chance to heal and that required hardly any power at all. As it turns out, the simplest solutions often prove to be the best.

Even Belle's memory was not a problem. It must have been the gold's work, didn't she know it was cursed like everything else in his estate? She had been careless enough to strike a deal with the devil himself, but, surely, she couldn't have been foolish enough to think that she wouldn't have to pay for breaking a magic contract?

Rumpelstiltskin did not have immunity either, the magic got to him too, even though he does not want to admit it. What a shame, The Dark One punished on his own, cruel terms.

Belle sees a face on the Moon but it is not clear whether she remembers whose face it is that she sees. Regina knows that feelings are harder to erase than memories, especially those of true love, she has learned that while trying to split up Snow White and Prince Charming for the hundredth time. Whatever the poor child does remember, the Queen's plan is safe as long as she does not call out his name during one of her hysteria attacks. Rumpelstiltskin said the curse would transfer everyone to a world without magic but he must have left a backdoor for himself just in case. She knows how dangerous and even deadly it could be – she has taken the risk herself a few times already since the arrival of the damned Savior – but if he knew about the princess in the dungeons, he would be ready to sacrifice everything to save her.

True love or not, he's always been obsessed with protecting what was his, especially at the cost of wrecking the lives of the very few people who loved him, as well as his own, in the process.

Regina finds it quite amusing that Belle is probably the only person in this world, as well as a few others, that she hasn't hurt to get her way, and at the same time the one thing that could ensure her triumph over Rumpelstiltskin and Emma Swan. She just has to wait a little longer and, when the time is right, she will make the man an offer that he won't dare refuse.


	2. Chapter 2

_Help me let go  
Of the chaos around me  
The devil that hounds me  
I need you to tell me  
Child be still_

P!nk, "Ave Mary A"

**Chapter Two**

**I  
From the Inside**

Rumpelstiltskin never planned his deals ahead. He liked the magic to take him by surprise, the same way he loved to corner his victims and hit them with something they would never expect. He could sense despair and longing like wild beasts smelled blood. He followed the poor desperate souls, sometimes keeping his distance for days or even months, letting their fear and determination drive them to the edge. He did not choose who to come to next, they summoned him with their faint whispers and the slightest tremors of their aching hearts. He let himself get lost in the sound of their desires and when he had listened to them so many times that he could easily repeat the tune and even play it backwards, he appeared on their doorsteps ready to agree to give them whatever they wished for. He even offered to formulate their requests for them, since some of them were so bold and grand that they would not dare say them out loud themselves. And while the wish was being expressed, Rumpelstiltskin listened carefully to everything to what his victims were trying to conceal, everything that started with _I would never_ or _I could never_… That was music to his ears, passionate, real, full of false tunes so elaborately put together into a song that they almost sounded right.

When he came to Belle's father, the dark power inside him almost deafened him with its shrieks:

_I want her! I want her! I want her!_

"I want _her_," he said pointing at the girl with his long finger.

Her father refused. That happened sometimes. Sometimes Rumpelstiltskin underestimated his victims, sometimes the magic inside him was a little off and he failed to strike the right note to expose the falsehood of people's hearts. No matter, there were plenty of other people willing to give up everything to end up with nothing.

He was about to leave when he heard a melody that wasn't there before. Fresh, and maybe a little too sweet, very simple and yet no in the least predictable.

Taking away children had always been his favorite, you could even say it was his signature move. But those had always been babies, and sometimes they hadn't even been born yet. And now he found himself making a deal with a child. He remembered too well what happened when he tried that last time but the magic was already celebrating the delicious treat it had been promised a long time ago and Rumpelstiltskin knew that it would not forgive him if he did not take advantage of something that was practically begging him to do so.

He was not used to listening to melodies in such fine innocent clefts, no sharps and flats, no false notes, this was probably one of the most simple tunes he had heard in a long time. It sounded very much like the flute he used to have when he was a shepherd.

It was clear and loud, complete with a decided, well-timed rhythm. He honestly had not expected to read anything like that in the girl.

"… the deal.. _is struck_," he pointed out triumphantly and rejoiced as the wave of magic poured over him when their contract became binding. He put his arm around her and escorted her out of the room.

Belle was very tense and she held her chin up proudly, clearly wanting everybody to admire her. Just look at her, the poor darling, all grown up and ready to sacrifice herself to save her village. Rumpelstiltskin could already see how they would build her statues and compose songs in her honor once the war ends. What a selfless, perfect angel she was.

She couldn't be, though. The only pure creatures in this world were children and she was no longer a child. She was naïve, Rumpelstiltskin had to give her that, but there was a reason why she decided to go with him and protecting her family and friends just wasn't it. It might have started that way, of course, but she must have seen some other benefits of the situation. Belle would not have made a deal with him unless there was something in it for her. She was outspoken, willful and a little too self-confident for her own good. Could it be that she thought she could outsmart him? Him, Rumpelstiltskin, the lord of riddles? Did she really think she stood a chance against the Dark One?

Rumpelstiltskin waved his free hand slightly and the heavy door shut behind them making Belle flinch and glance behind her.

"Changed your mind already, dearie?" he mocked her as he shook his head disapprovingly, even though she had not stopped.

Belle turned her head to look at him and he could see her eyes widen. Clearly, she had not had the chance to look at him more closely beforehand and the reality of what she was in for had finally hit her. He could sense her fear and he was amused by her useless attempts to hide it from him.

"I gave my word."

Lies. So thick that he almost felt like slapping her for lying in his face so openly. He could have easily pushed her onto the nearest wall and make her confess with one or two simple hexes but he quickly thought of another, more subtle way of dealing with her. He was going to get to work her from the inside, rather than from the outside. The poor dear won't even know what hit her.

So, just like her daddy, she thought he was a monster, didn't she now?

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" he whispered in her ear as he tightened his grip on her forearm. "It's not very polite to think such nasty things about someone right next to you. And quite cowardly, too," he lectured her, happy with the results. Belle's heart was pounding in her chest by the way she dropped her gaze to the floor he could be sure he succeeded in humiliating her. She really was too proud for her own good.

Rumpelstiltskin reached out and gently lifted her chin up so that the girl would look at him before he reassured her that this one time he would not make her pay for her insult. He said it differently, of course, but hopefully she had enough sense to guess what he really meant. If not, sooner or later she will have to learn it the hard way.

He opened the door to the carriage and helped her get inside, sending her on a long solitary journey to his estate while he himself travelled there in an instant thanks to the magic. He could have taken her with him but he decided to give her some time alone before she would be stuck with him forever. Whether or not she had hidden intentions, she had the right to come to terms with her fate and let herself cry over the loss of her friends and family. Rumpelstiltskin knew one night was not enough to let go of her previous live completely but at least it offered her some privacy. From what he had seen so far, Belle was quite good at restraining her emotions and pretending she was in control of the situation. He wondered whether that was simply her nature or whether she had to learn to act this way as she was growing up in her father's castle surrounded by court intrigues and political decisions that gave little or no consideration to feelings.

Rumpelstiltskin made sure that his estate would let the new housekeeper in and that it would not let her out later without his permission. He did not quite enjoy having guests and he thought that Belle would not be of much use to him if on her first day she received the treatment normally reserved for intruders. Gods forbid the beasts got to her before she even crossed the threshold.

He prepared one of the dungeon cells for her, there was no need to give her a room in case she decided to do something foolish and tossed herself off of one of the towers or tried to escape one night and fall prey to the wolves after all. He hated moving the furniture, it was such a waste to use his powers in this way. He would let her move into somewhere more comfortable, eventually, and hopefully she would think it was a trap and refuse it altogether, saving him the tiresome task of decorating her bedroom.

Rumpelstiltskin loved to make people part with the things most important to them in their lives but, truth be told, he had little or no use for them himself and he got bored with them pretty quickly, casting them away the same way a child forgot about its old toys as soon as it got a new one. Only, Rumpelstiltskin did not throw anything away. He kept every single thing so that he constantly needed more room for his growing collection of the many objects that had been given to him in exchange for countless favors that were not really worth it. As for the babies, if he did not end up giving them to someone in exchange for something else, he turned them into flowers and planted them in his garden, where he would have them wait until he could find someone in desperate need of a child. Such people were usually the best to do business with.

Belle was too old to be turned into a flower, though, and he did not think that he would meet a knight anytime soon that would want to exchange something to have a beautiful young woman by his side. The men here were pretty good at finding those by themselves, princesses that they thought were in desperate need of a husband or lover.

It would take some time before he got bored with Belle and found another way to amuse himself but Rumpelstiltskin already had a few ideas for what to do with her then. So far, his favorite consisted of turning her into a picture while she was still untouched by the passing of time. Alternatively, he could change her into a shepherd's flute but he seriously doubted that he would find the time to play it.

When Belle finally arrived, he led her to the dungeon and left her there for a few hours. It was interesting to see after how much time she finally gave up and stopped screaming. She sobbed a little and then quieted down completely. When he came back for her he was quite surprised to have found her awake and calm. She followed him to the kitchen and did everything he asked for without complaining. In fact, there was nothing _he_ could complain about and that ruined the fun for him a little because he had been hoping that she would put up a fight against him. Instead, he felt as if he had ended up with a mute maid again.

"Oh! And you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts." That one was really distasteful, even for Rumpelstiltskin. But at least he got her to react. It was not exactly what he had hoped though. He was expecting insults, perhaps something along the lines of '_You monster!_', anything would have done, really. And all the girl did was chip a cup. And, apparently, she also thought that he was going to do something nasty to her for it. Why does everyone think that?

"Well, it's just a cup," Rumpelstiltskin said after he had been studying her for some time, deciding whether he should confirm Belle's assumptions about him or not. On the other hand, if he did what she was expecting him to do, what fun would that be?

**II  
Parasite  
**

Mr Gold does not take things from people anymore and he does not turn babies into flowers. Everything he has ever taken away from anyone is in his pawn shop, collecting dust on the shelves. He is not quite clear why everything found its way into this world, the curse did not include objects, only people. He almost never has any customers so he spends a lot of time sitting in his office at the back of the shop, thinking.

Whenever the bell rings, Mr Gold can be almost certain that it's either Henry or Ms Swan. The bell never rings for Regina. Maybe she simply always happens to be there when somebody else is already on their way out so it doesn't make a sound. Or maybe she has found another way. There is no magic in this world, of course, not in the traditional sense. Sometimes he can still see tiny specks of faerie dust in the air, the Queen must see them, too. With the Savior back, many things have been changing gradually and unless he had not been there to watch Storybrooke stay completely still for the last twenty-eight years, he would not be able to see that.

Henry can see the changes because he really wants them to happen, even though he does not understand that once the curse is over, they will not all be transported back to fairyland with a guarantee of a happy ending. He must see is that way through those child eyes of his, but Mr Gold knows that magic is the last thing to ever give anyone a happy ending. Regina must have realized that too, although she is dead-set on claiming that the reason why she wanted a world without magic was because she wanted to take away hope from everybody. Magic was a source hope, in spite of what it usually led to and Mr Gold could never understand it. He did not mind this little mystery because it was good for business.

Mr Gold knows that Regina wanted a world without magic because she wanted to be in charge of her actions again. Power is a parasite and once it has found a way into your mind and into your heart, it hardly ever even lets you hear your own thoughts. The more you use it, the more you let it have what it wants, the happier it makes you. That kind of happiness is short-lived, of course, and you constantly have to get more of it, always at the expense of others.

He cannot say that he does not enjoy living in Storybrooke. He owns the town, just like he wanted. He also has power over the Queen, something which he did not think she would have ever agreed on.

"Please."

Regina's eyes grow wide for a moment and sometimes Mr Gold can't help himself thinking that the woman looks as if someone had cast a spell on her.

He misses the magic because he has forgotten how nasty his thoughts are and how many terrible things he has done over the years. Regina might think that taking away everyone's memories is what makes the curse truly horrible but Mr Gold would give everything not have the magic back inside him again. He would do anything to hear its sweet seductive whisper in his head and let it drug him with promises of bliss.


End file.
